Help Me to Feel Again
by Krazy-The-Sloth
Summary: After getting attacked by Joey's old gang, Yami can't handle how weak he was and needs some help. Dragonshipping.


_A Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfiction_

_**Help Me to Feel Again**_

It was a day just like any other at Domino High School. The gang was sitting in math class. Joey was asleep, Yugi was thinking up new strategies for playing Duel Monsters, inside Yugi's head Yami was busy creepily watching Joey sleep for no good reason, Tristan was making paper air planes that he planned to throw at Kaiba when the teacher wasn't looking, Bakura was spacing out, and Téa was actually paying attention to the lesson.

The teacher droned on about how to find the value of x and turned his back to write it on the board. Tristan took the opportunity to throw the paper air plane at Kaiba. It hit and stuck in the back of the collar of his school uniform. Kaiba didn't notice that it was there, and continued taking notes about what the teacher was saying.

Tristan smothered a laugh and the teacher raised an eyebrow at him. "Mr. Taylor, do you have something to share with the class?" Tristan tried his hardest to keep from grinning at how stupid Kaiba looked with the air plane stuck in his collar. "Just that it's a fine, sunny day today." He gave a huge grin that made the teacher very suspicious. "I see, then on this fine, sunny day could you please tell us what x is?" Tristan had no idea and answered, "Six." By some miracle he was correct and the teacher left him alone.

Class let out and Kaiba finally noticed the paper stuck in his collar. "What the hell?" He pulled it out and threw it in the nearest trash can. "Which one of you losers threw that there?" He glared around at his classmates as they filed out of the room. "Maybe the ceiling just really hates you and threw it at ya," said Joey while walking past him. "Listen, Wheeler, if it was you who did it, so help me I'll-." He stopped when he saw that he was the only one left in the room. "I can see that you really love math, Mr. Kaiba, but you need to get to your next class," the teacher informed him.

School was over for the day and Yugi was getting his outside shoes from their locker. He found a piece of paper on top of them. The paper read: "Meet me behind the school after school." Yugi, being pretty gullible and naïve, didn't see this as strange at all and went to do what the letter had told him to.

He went behind the school and found no one there. He began to think that it was just some dumb prank, when four boys in the school uniforms of a different high school showed up. They didn't look like the friendliest of people, but Yugi went up to them anyway. "Hi, what did you want to see me about?"

"Oh, nothing." Yugi didn't notice until it was too late that one of them had come up beside him. The older boy clamped a cloth that smelled sweet over Yugi's mouth. "Wha?" He was unconscious before he could do or say anything.

Yugi awoke to find that he was in an old abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of town. He sat up, holding his head. That cloth must have had chloroform in it. "Hey look, the little punk's awake." The four boys who had brought him there were all sitting around near him, waiting for him to wake up. "Wha- what do you want from me?" Yugi stammered.

"What we want is for you to get that blonde friend of yours to meet with us. He used to be a member of our gang, but he split. We want him back." They were, of course, referring to Joey. He had been a member of several gangs in his younger years and was known to be a very good fighter.

"Why didn't you just tell him yourselves?" It didn't make much sense to Yugi to go to someone's friend instead of the person you wanted to talk to. "Because this is the way we want to do it, little punk!" The leader of the gang, a guy with many piercings and pink highlights to his hair, struck out and kicked Yugi. The truth of the matter was that the gang was too scared to ask Joey themselves and thought going after his weak little friend would work better.

Yugi moaned and clutched his side where the boy had kicked him. "But why?" The gang leader glared down at the small boy. "Because we said so, that's why!" He kicked Yugi again, this time much harder. "Heh heh, hey guys, I've got an idea," of the other gang members said, "Let's have some fun with this little brat before we get Joe back."

The leader smirked. "Sounds like a plan." He pulled Yugi up by his uniform collar and punched him forcefully in the stomach. The blow sent him flying across the room to hit the wall of the warehouse with a loud "thud." Yugi let out a cry of pain and staggered to his feet. 'Let me handle this one, Yugi,' Yami said from inside his head.

The ancient Egyptian spirit took possession of the smaller then average teenager and stood defiantly to face his and Yugi's attackers. The four boys saw the sudden change in the small boy and paused. Then they shrugged and ran at him. One of them grabbed him from behind and held his arms behind his back while another took out a knife. He used the knife to cut through Yugi's uniform jacket and shirt and soon he had only shreds of cloth left on his chest.

Then the third boy unbuckled Yami's belts and ripped his blue trousers off. Yami now realized what it was they were likely planning to do to them and he lashed out violently, catching the boy who was holding his arms in the jaw with his elbow. The boy fell backwards, losing his grip on the small boy. Yami took the chance to make a break for it.

He bolted for the door, but found it locked. He beat on it, trying in vain to get it open. "Heh, so the little guy does have a bit of spunk in him after all. This'll make it all the more fun." The gang leader strode up to the Pharaoh, slamming a fist down on his small shoulder. The blow sent Yami sprawling on the cold concrete floor.

"Come on, boys, we're just getting started." The gang leader dragged Yami back over to the others by his feet. The boy with the knife smirked and eyed Yami hungrily. "Can I make him bleed? I like to make things bleed." He smiled insanely. The gang leader nodded and the knife made contact with Yami's exposed chest.

The first cut he made was a long one, running from his right armpit down to his left hip. Yami bucked wildly, screaming in pain. "Heh, it'll only be worst if you move, the cuts will get deeper, and in more vital areas." Red blood began to ooze from the long cut and run down Yami and Yugi's body.

"You won't get away with this," Yami snarled, "My friends will save me." He was punched in the face for his outburst. The knife came down three more times, leaving its trail of blood over his chest and back. Yami was becoming weak from all the blows and blood loss and began to shake. "Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you that would warrant this?"

"Because we can, and we want to." The gang leader planted a foot in the small of Yami's back and pushed him to his knees. Yami was crying now, the tears coming against his will. He was trying to be strong, trying to be strong for Yugi, to protect him. But he was failing miserably.

The boy with the knife cut off the last bit of clothing on Yami, his underwear. The leader grabbed a fistful of Yami's hair and yanked the Pharaoh's head up to look him in his tear-stained face. "Now we'll see how good you are as a bitch."

Yami didn't have any time to wonder about what he meant before one of the boys grabbed his thighs and slammed inside him. He let out a deep throated scream that was cut off by a hand clamping hard over his mouth. They all held him down and had a go at him until they were satisfied. He was left on the cold floor naked, bruised, bleeding, and with all the fight beaten out of him.

Yami lay still for a long time, barely conscious. He couldn't move; he was in so much pain that he probably couldn't move even if he wanted to. Yugi came into his consciousness. He just stayed there for a while, in shock. 'We're still alive. I can't believe we're still alive.' Being inside of the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi hadn't actually had to feel the pain that Yami went through in his body. But he had seen it all, every bit of it. 'Are you okay, Yami?' He knew it was a stupid question. His soul partner had just been brutally beaten and gang raped, but he felt that he needed to say something.

"I-I'm sorry, Yugi, sorry that I am too weak and pathetic to have stopped them from hurting us. Please, forgive me." He left Yugi's body and retreated inside of the puzzle, blocking himself off from Yugi in the furthest corner of it. "Hey, come back here, Yami! I need you!" But it was useless. Yami couldn't hear him anymore.

Yugi took his body back and tried to sit up, but found it much too painful. He knew he had to get help, but he had no idea how. He heard footsteps outside and the door opened. He lay perfectly still, pretending to be out cold. He cracked one eye open. The gang was back, and this time they had brought Joey with them.

Joey didn't see Yugi at first, but when he did he let out a cry of alarm. "What the hell did ya do to him?" He ran to his injured friend, kneeing down by his side and gripping his wrist to see if there was a pulse. Yugi still pretended to be out, but Joey could feel a pulse. He was alive.

"Heh, that's what'll happen to you if you don't come back to us, Joe," said the gang's leader. Joey stiffened, his hands balling into fists. "So it was you bastards that did this to my friend. You're going to pay. Big time!" With the last two words he sprang up and lunged at the gang, striking out left and right. He had them all on the floor begging for mercy in a matter of seconds.

"GET THE HELL OUT! IF I EVER SEE YOU AROUND HERE AGAIN, I WILL KILL YOU!" He gave the nearest gang member one last kick before letting them get away. "Heh, I should have given them a better beating. They're lucky I have more important things to do." He went back to Yugi, kneeling down again. "Yugi, hey man, you there?" He poked the small battered boy gently. Yugi opened his eyes. "Joey…I knew our friends would come save us." He was referring to both he and Yami. "Yami tried to save me, but…but they were just too strong." Silent tears ran down his young face. "He…he won't come out of the puzzle." He broke down in racking sobs, gripping the front of Joey's shirt.

Joey stroked the boy's hair. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here now, I'll help you." He let Yugi cry for a while then picked him up. He just now realized that the boy was entirely naked and stopped to put his own jacket on the boy. With it buttoned up it was big enough to go down nearly to Yugi's knees. He carried Yugi through the dark streets of Domino City to his house.

Joey was used to taking care of cuts and bruises, so he soon had Yugi cleaned up and bandaged. The cuts were much worse looking then they really were. They weren't really all that deep, which was very lucky for Yugi. He put a baggy old t-shirt on the boy and put him to bed in his own bed. Joey sat up late, sitting in the living room, thinking about what he was going to do.

It must have been horrible, what had happened to his little friend. It was obvious from the cuts and bruises that he had been beaten and slashed with a knife. But he had also found the marks of fingernails on his thighs and the area around his behind had been red and swollen. He'd never actually seen someone who had been raped, but that's what it looked like had happened.

He let out a quiet curse to the guys who had done this to Yugi. If he ever saw them again they would pay. The phone suddenly rang and he jumped a little at the sound. Walking across the room, he picked up the receiver. "Hello?" he said into it. "Yes, this is Yugi's grandpa, is he at your house, Joseph? He never came home and I already called all his other friends."

"Yes, he's here. He got beat up real bad by some low down no good bastards." "What? I'll come over right away to take him home!" Joey waved his hand emphatically in front of him, and then remembered that Mr. Moto couldn't see him. "No, I think it'd be better if he stayed here. I don't know if it's a good idea to move him. But I think he'll be okay. Don't worry about him." Of course whenever anyone says not to worry, it automatically makes the listener worry. "I don't know, I could come over and see him."

Joey glanced at the clock, it was almost midnight. "Naw, it's late. You can come over in the morning and see him then. Besides, he's asleep. And he can use all the sleep he can get right now." There was a pause from the other end, and then, "I guess it'll be alright. I'll come over first thing tomorrow to see him though, bye." Mr. Moto hung up the phone.

Joey hung up the phone on his end and let out a sign. This was gonna be a long, sleepless, night. He peeked into his room to check on Yugi. He had been right, the boy was asleep. He had moved in his sleep and knocked the covers off of himself. Joey silently crept over his messy floor and pulled the covers back over his friend. Then he crept back out and went to sleep on the couch.

The next morning Joey woke up and went in to check on Yugi. He found him, lying on his side and holding the sides of the Millennium Puzzle, talking to it. "Come on, Yami, come out and talk to me. I need you; please don't do this to me." He hung his head, tears starting to form.

"Hey, Yug, how ya doing?" Joey asked from the doorway. "I can't get Yami to come out of the puzzle…Why won't he come out, does he hate me?" Yugi seemed more concerned about getting Yami to talk to him then he did about the battered state of his own body.

"He'll come out, sometime. Right now I need to change your bandages." Yugi left the puzzle where it was on the bed and reached out his arms to Joey. Joey picked him up and carried him to the bathroom. After changing Yugi's bandages, he took him out to the living room and set him on the couch. "What'd you like for breakfast, Yugi?" Surprisingly enough, Joey could cook.

"I don't know; I'm not really very hungry. I feel kinda nauseous." He held onto his stomach with a small moan. "Dat's because you got yer stomach beaten to a pulp." He stopped, cringing at how insensitive he sounded. "Sorry." Yugi lay down on the couch, already wore out. "It's okay. It's the truth, after all." He closed his eyes, falling asleep then and there.

The doorbell rang and Joey went to answer it. As expected, it was Mr. Moto. "How is he?" was the first thing he asked. Joey led him to the living room where Yugi was zonked out on the couch. With the baggy t-shirt on the only visible damage was a bandage on his face where he had been struck.

Yugi's grandpa ruffled his grandson's tri-colored hair and signed. "I'm just glad he's okay. Do you think I can take him home now?" Joey shuffled his feet. "I dunno, I think it'd be better if he stayed here." It was true that he thought it would be the best idea not to move him too much, but he also wanted him to stay because he felt suddenly very protective of Yugi.

Yugi opened his eyes. "Grandpa!" He went to jump up and hug the bearded man, but stopped when a stabbing pain hit his side. "Ouch, that was a bad idea." He pulled up the shirt to see what he had done to himself. Mr. Moto gasped at all the bandages. "Who did this to you, Yugi?"

"Some guys, from another school. I don't know their names." Yugi averted his eyes, not wanting to talk about it. "Well, Joseph here says that he wants to keep you here. I think it's for the best. I need to get back to the shop now. No wild parties, okay?" He winked at the last part, it was a joke.

"Hey, Yugi, if you're not hungry and you're so tired that you're falling asleep on my couch, let's just take you back to my room." Yugi nodded. Joey took him there and then went to the kitchen to fix himself some food.

Later on in the day Joey's dad came home. Joey made it a point to quietly go to his room and lock the door. He didn't want his dad to know that Yugi was there, so he wouldn't hurt him. Joey held his breath, hoping that his dad would just ignore him like usual and not cause any trouble.

At first he left them alone, he wasn't even aware that either of them was there. Then he saw all the bandages thrown about the bathroom floor. "What the hell are you doing, Joey, pretending to be a mummy?" Joey cursed himself for forgetting to pick those up. He didn't reply, hoping that his dad wouldn't check his room.

But of course he did. When he found it locked he starting shouting obscenities and banging on the door. The noise woke Yugi and he sat up. "Wha? What's going on?" Joey put a finger to his lips. "Shh, we don't want him to know we're here." Yugi blinked. "But if the door's locked we kinda have to be in here." "Damnit! Shh!"

"Open this door right now, you punk, or I'll break it down!" Joey was pretty sure that he was serious, so he did as he was told. Joey's dad came barging into the room, almost knocking Joey over on his way. He saw Yugi cowering on the bed, the covers wrapped around him. "So that's it, you brought a girl home. You're too young for that. And what is she, twelve?"

"Dad, this is Yugi, he's my friend. He got hurt so he's staying with me right now." His dad paused, taking in what he had said. "I always knew that you were a faggot. Now get out! And take that brat with you!" Joey didn't know what else to do so he picked Yugi up and left the apartment.

"What are we going to do now?" Yugi asked quietly. Joey paused for a moment on the top of the stairs then started down them. "I don't know, Yugi. I guess we'll go to your house." And so they did. They got several odd looks because of what Yugi was wearing and the fact that Joey was carrying him.

Joey went right in the front door and up the stairs to Yugi's room. Mr. Moto stopped them on the way and asked what was going on. Joey replied with a quick, "My dad kicked us out." He set Yugi on the bed and plopped down beside him. He let out a sigh. That could have gone better.

"Do-does your dad always treat you like that?" Yugi asked. He'd be terrified if his Grandpa did that to him. "Pretty much. We've never really been on good terms. Sometimes he beats me." Yugi stared at his blonde friend. "Really? That's horrible! How can he get away with that? Why don't you go live with your mom?"

"I'm not on the best of terms with her either. We don't agree on a lot of things. Plus, she lives all the way over in Battle City. If I were to move there I couldn't see you guys."

"But, your dad…" Yugi protested.

"It's okay. I can manage it. What about you? You've never even mentioned your parents before." It was true; Yugi had never mentioned his parents and Joey knew nothing at all about them.

"Oh, nothing. How about we play Duel Monsters!" He conveniently avoided the topic. Joey shrugged, if Yugi didn't want to talk about it they wouldn't. They played several games of Duel Monsters, Yugi winning every single game. Once they got bored with that they searched around for something else to play.

The sound of thundering footstep came up the stairs. Tristan, Téa, and Bakura all came barging into Yugi's room. "Hey, dudes, why weren't you in school today?" Tristan asked his friends. "The math teacher gave us a ton of homework. I brought along yours, we can do it right now." Téa said as she sat down at Yugi's desk and cracked her math book open.

"What happened to you, Yugi? You don't look well," Bakura asked Yugi after seeing that he was in bed and that his face was bandaged. "Oh, some bullies beat me up last night. Joey saved me." All three of the new comers looked concernedly at their small friend. "Who were they?" asked Bakura.

"Some assholes from my old school. I used to be in a gang with them, but they were totally not cool so I left them." Joey replied for Yugi. "They wanted to get me back, so the dirty bastards kidnapped Yugi and beat him up." He didn't mention the part about him getting gang raped.

"Those bastards! Why I atta give them a taste of my fists!" Tristan punched his fist into the air, nearly hitting Bakura in the jaw. "Calm down guys. I'm okay," Yugi told them. "How about we play a game?" Joey had found a deck of regular cards and held them out. "How's about Go Fish?"

"How's about math homework?" Téa reminded them. All of the boys ignored her and gathered around Yugi's bed to play the card game. After a couple rounds of Go Fish Téa saw how much fun they were having and gave up on her homework to play with the guys.

Yugi's grandpa poked his head into the room as they were finished a round of Uno. "I can hear that you kids are having fun up here, but it's late. I think you should be heading on home before too long." Téa looked at her watch. "Holy crap! It's this late already? My mom's gonna kill me for staying out this late!" She hurriedly packed up her stuff and headed for the door. "We'll walk you home, Téa," Tristan suggested.

After they were all gone Yugi let out a big yawn. "I need some sleep. Are you headed home too, Joey?" Joey fidgeted with his hair. "After that outburst by my dad? No. Can I crash here tonight?"

"Of course! Let me go get the futon in the hall closet." Joey held up a hand. "Uh, uh, I'll go get it. You stay here and rest, Yug." Joey got the mattress and set it up on Yugi's floor. After getting ready for bed the two boys fell asleep.

At about midnight Joey was awaken by a foot nearly hitting him in the face. He caught the foot and almost flipped and floored the person before he realized who it was. "Hey, Yugi, what you doing up?" There was no reply and then. "I wish to use the bathroom, if that's okay with you."

Joey blinked. That voice, it was deeper than Yugi's. He strained his eyes in the dim light to get a better look at the boy standing above him. "Yami, is that you? You finally came out!" He leaped up, going to give Yami a hug. But Yami side stepped the hug and Joey ended up landing on the floor.

"I'm glad to see you, man. Yugi couldn't get ya to come out and I thought that maybe you-." He stopped when he saw that the smaller boy was glaring at him. "Oh, right, the bathroom. You can go now." Yami stepped over him and walked out of the room.

When he came back Joey was sitting on Yugi's bed. "Can I have a hug now?" Joey asked, grinning broadly. Yami was still glaring at him. "No."

"Aww, okay then. But it is nice to see you." His expression became serious. "If you need to talk, about, you know, stuff, I'm open to it." Joey wasn't sure how to word it, but Yami was obviously shook up about what had happened the night before. He had every right to be. But Joey didn't want him bottling it all up, it wasn't healthy.

"I don't want to talk. I just want some time to think, by myself." He sat down on the bed next to Joey and crossed his arms over his chest. "So that's why you waited for Yugi to be asleep to come out."

"Yes, I just, I just can't face him right now. I'm a disgrace. I should have been able to protect Yugi. But I couldn't." He turned his face away from Joey, not wanting to talk any further about it. "It's okay, man. No one blames you for what happened. There was no way for you to have beens able to take on four guys at once. It's not your fault."

Yami slammed his fist forcefully down on the bed. "Yes it was! It was all my fault! All my fault!" He started to cry. He tried to hold back the tears, but they just kept coming. "It's okay, Yami. Not everyone can be Superman." He leaned in to hug the Pharaoh but paused. He had never noticed before how beautiful his eyes were. They were a rich violet, a color that didn't show up in eyes very much at all. He couldn't explain it, but he felt the urge to kiss the boy right now. Acting impulsively, he did.

Yami pulled back, covering his mouth and staring at Joey with wide eyes. Without a word, he stood up and ran out of the room. "Wait, Yami, I can explain!" Joey tried to get him to come back, but he was already out of earshot.

Joey signed. "What am I gonna do now?" He got up and followed Yami. He found him in Yugi's living room, sitting on the floor, arms dejectedly hanging by his sides and tears still pouring down his face. Joey silently opened the door and went to his side, sitting down beside him. "Hey, Yami, I'm sorry, I just…couldn't help myself. You just looked like you needed something to cheer you up." He reached out an arm to pat him on the back, but Yami slapped it away. "Get away from me. Don't touch me. I don't want to be touched! I don't want…." He started to cry in earnest now, great sobs racking his small frame.

Joey ignored his protests and wrapped him up in a hug. He held him there, the dark all around them, until the smaller boy's cries softened. Then he picked him up and carried him back to Yugi's room. Before Joey crawled back into his bed on the floor, Yami turned to him and gave him a return kiss. This kiss was much longer and more intimate then the quick one Joey had given him. "Thank you, Joey. Thank you for helping me to feel again."

**The End**


End file.
